


And Welcome Home

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Paint The Sky With Stars [47]
Category: Night World - Fandom, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifter, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Witches, Crossover, Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:06:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt: "Stargate Multiverse, Any, shapeshifter AU"</p><p>Larrin of the Travelers finally finds a new home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Welcome Home

Larrin hadn’t realized how anxious she was to hear from Aiden Ford until his transmission came crackling through the subspace communication system.  
  
“I’ve spoken to the Satedan leaders,” he said, “and they are open to treaty talks with the Travelers, giving land to the Travelers for a grounder population in exchange for allying with the fleet as space support against the Wraith.”  
  
“Excellent,” Larrin said. “Can you arrange a time for us to meet?”  
  
“The Chieftain says you are welcome at any time.”  
  
If Aiden trusted them, Larrin was willing to trust them. She had never met anyone who understood the Travelers’ wariness with outsiders, whose trust was based on scrupulous research and investigation.  
  
“Then we’re on our way. See you soon.”  
  
“I’ll let them know.”  
  
Larrin ended the transmission, then turned on one of the internal channels. “Katana?”  
  
“Go for Katana.”  
  
“I’m going to meet with the Satedans. You’re in command until I return.”  
  
“Yes, Larrin.”  
  
Katana was a fierce warrior, a talented pilot, and a competent leader. Larrin trusted her with the entire Tribe. Then she slid behind the controls and guided her ship toward the nearest ring.  
  
“Sateda, here I come.”  
  
She chose a planet that she knew was uninhabited but hid her ship all the same, then dialed back out to Sateda.  
  
The guards waiting on the other side of the gate were young, mostly women, and armed with various weapons. At first glance Sateda had been ravaged by the Wraith, the cityscape pockmarked with burns from Wraith weapons, but the guards were disciplined, decently trained. Sateda was struggling, but it was organized, and Larrin respected that. If her people could become part of the community while it was still in its infancy, that would be easier than trying to integrate into an established population. Colonizing an empty planet when they knew little about farming would have been disastrous.  
  
If things went well, then the Travelers could trade with Atlantis without being dependent on them.  
  
The Travelers were strong and proud, and Larrin would do all she could to make sure they had strength.  
  
Aiden was waiting with the guards, and he greeted her respectfully, cordially, but not with so much warmth that anyone would suspect him of being less than objective with her. The two men standing beside him both wore combat leather and had the bearing of soldiers. Larrin took in the tall one with the long hair and the Satedan tattoo on his throat and knew he was the Chieftain.   
  
“Welcome to Sateda,” the tall man said. “I’m Ronon Dex. This is Evan Lorne, my second-in-command.”  
  
The shorter man bobbed his head in acknowledgment. He had blue, blue eyes.  
  
“Aiden speaks well of you and your people,” Ronon said.   
  
“Aiden says fantastic things about your people as well.” Larrin had heard the tales of the Satedans, of their old gods returned. Aiden had promised that, whatever the rumors were, Sateda was making good on its promises, of rebuilding and strengthening its people, growing.  
  
“I know your time is precious. We can eat and discuss at the same time. Please, join us.”  
  
Larrin knew she was taking a big risk, coming herself, but she knew she would be safe, because she trusted Aiden.   
  
Ronon and his men were polite, didn’t try to get at Larrin’s back, instead walking parallel with her. She could see fields in the distance, were plenty of people were working. The buildings were damaged, but the central square was clean, organized, with a bustling market and some kind of central cooking station. The people looked healthy and happy. They were tanned from working in the sun, but they were smiling and laughing, their clothes were clean.  
  
Sateda was a good place, a safe place. Larrin was confident here.  
  
She expected to be led to one of the grander buildings, the headquarters or Grounder equivalent of the bridge, but instead Ronon led her into what was clearly a residential building, people bustling in and out, women with laundry baskets and the like, children playing.  
  
They were taking her, Larrin realized, to their living quarters.  
  
“Please, have a seat,” Lorne said.

Their quarters were simple - two beds, a table and two chairs, and a small galley. Aiden sat on one of the beds like he’d done it a hundred times before. How close was he, with Ronon?  
  
Ronon sat at the table, so Larrin sat opposite him. Lorne went straight to the galley and began opening drawers and cupboards. Preparing the food.   
  
“What would you like to know about an alliance with Sateda?” Ronon asked.  
  
Larrin remembered her negotiations with John Sheppard, his sarcasm and his threats. Ronon was opening gently, cooperatively. “What rights and benefits would my people have? Would they be full citizens?”  
  
“That would depend,” Lorne said, “on how you would structure your citizenship. Would you allow your people to have dual citizenship? Could any of our people obtain Traveler citizenship as well? Whether you allow dual citizenship will likely affect whether your people will seek citizenship, and vice versa.”  
  
“We are looking to establish a permanent Grounder population,” Larrin said, “to have a place to call home. If our people were granted full citizenship, of course we would offer the benefits of citizenship - travel on our ships - to Satedan citizens as well.”  
  
Lorne handed Aiden a plate of food. He had, bafflingly, sliced bread into flat panes and put food between two of them, meat and vegetables. He handed Ronon and Larrin plates as well, but no utensils. Larrin stared when Aiden picked up the bread and bit into the entire mess. But, surprisingly, it wasn’t messy.  
  
Larrin waited till Ronon and Lorne bit into their food before she tried a bite. It was - surprisingly good, actually. Was this traditional Satedan food? Larrin had never heard of such a thing.  
  
Lorne kept serving food - drinks, little round snacks that were dark and sweet and exploded into sweetness on Larrin’s tongue (chocolate, he called it) - and assisting Ronon with the discussions. After several hours and lots of food and drinks, they came to an agreement: dual citizenship for everyone who wished it, automatic dual citizenship for children born to at least one parent with dual citizenship, and the Travelers acting as Satedan space troops, with options for training as grounder soldiers and Satedans for training as additional space troops.  
  
Rights of citizenship included free travel on the planet, the right to vote in governmental elections, and the opportunity to serve in government and on tribunals. Duties of citizenship included taxes, military service in time of war, farm service in time of harvest, and obeying the laws of the Ground and the Ships.  
  
Larrin felt hope building in her as the talks progressed. This was it. This was the chance for her and her people to stop running, stop living in fear. To fight back against the Wraith. Larrin played her cards carefully. Both Lorne and Ronon appreciated her figure, she noticed, but neither of them lingered on her like other men tended to do (even Aiden). Sheppard hadn’t been taken in by her charms either, and she’d resorted to violence against him more than once. Larrin had heard Ronon was a Runner for seven years, and she knew how Runners shunned human contact. She knew little of Lorne, other than that he was Ronon’s closest confidante, and he had been instrumental in helping Ronon - who’d been little more than a Specialist in the Satedan Planetary Defense Forces before the Great Culling - rebuild Sateda. In this room, however, he had acted like a combination of servant and co-leader, and Larrin was confused. She didn’t like being confused.

“I have to ask,” she said, “because I keep hearing about these Old Gods. My people worshipped the Ancestors, and I know on Sateda they did as well. What is older than the Ancestors?”  
  
“What have you heard?” Ronon asked.  
  
Larrin laughed. “Fantastical things. That the Old Gods can bring fire and rain, that they cannot be killed, that they can take many forms.”  
  
Ronon and Lorne glanced at Aiden, who shrugged.  
  
“Hey, blame Marita and all her stories, not me.”  
  
“Will your treaty with Sateda change, if the stories are not true?” Ronon raised his eyebrows.  
  
“No, of course not. I’ve seen the fine work you’ve done here.”  
  
Lorne eyed her. “And if they are true?”  
  
“How can they be?”  
  
One moment Ronon was standing tall, the next he was no more, but a giant golden, spotted feline was in his place.  
  
Larrin stared.  
  
And then Ronon was back, shaking out his limbs. “Only the one form,” he said. “As for the fire and rain - we’re working on it.”  
  
Impossible. But Larrin had seen it with her own eyes.  
  
“We know,” Ronon said, “that you had dealings with the Lanteans about a year ago, and you managed to come away from the encounter on friendly enough terms.”  
  
“Wait, what?” Larrin blinked rapidly.  
  
Ronon was still a man.  
  
“Give her a minute, guys,” Aiden said.  
  
Lorne fetched Larrin a drink of water, let her gather her wits about her once more.  
  
She took a drink, then another, then several deep breaths. “What about the Lanteans?”  
  
“We will not begrudge you trade and friendship with Lantea,” Ronon said, “but do not give Lantea the gate address to Sateda, and if you deal with John Sheppard directly, do not speak to him of us - not of me, not of Evan, and not of Aiden.”  
  
That was an interesting twist. “May I ask why?”  
  
“Evan and I left Lantea,” Ronon said, “and we do not wish to go back. And John Sheppard wishes us harm.”  
  
Larrin didn’t want to get on Lantea’s bad side, not Lantea’s or John Sheppard’s. “Why would he wish you harm?”  
  
“Because,” Lorne said, “John Sheppard and I were lovers once, and I have moved on.” He cast Ronon a significant look, and his and Ronon’s lack of interest in her made sense.  
  
Aiden choked on his drink. “You and Sheppard -?”  
  
Lorne raised his eyebrows. “Sorry. Did I miss that detail?”  
  
“Yes!” Aiden said. “I knew you and Ronon - but you and Sheppard -? He and McKay -”  
  
“Me and him first, and then him and McKay, and now me and Ronon,” Lorne said, shrugging delicately.   
  
“I understand,” Larrin said. “And I will keep our alliance discreet.”  
  
Lorne smiled warmly. He had dimples and bright eyes, and he was handsome. “Then welcome to Sateda, and welcome home.”


End file.
